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I've always thought of Byousoku as a long series of haikus, with the humans overshadowed by the world around them. I think of it as a Buddhist show, showing the basic unsatisfactoriness of life. That's something even deeper than character development.

Sorry for straying from the topic. But to all Hayate no Gotoku manga readers, Hayate was finally reunited with Athena after 10 years of separation. Their love story was also pretty powerful IMO.
To those people who are still bitter from the ending (5cm per second of course), Hayate no Gotoku might offer some degree of consolation to your hearts.

I've watched this movie yesterday. It has been sitting near me for a very long time, and I had no idea what it was about. So, I've decided to give it a shot...

Oh.. My.. God. I guess I couldn't have picked a better time to watch it. Beside the fact that I'm also going to a very very far place; leaving a precious friend behind, the movie in itself was amazing. I loved the drawings, music, characters, and how the "distance" theme was used.

I guess I was expecting a more cliche ending; the girl and the boy ending up together. But that was just probably my naive expectation to avoid more tears...

Astonishing movie.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fleri

I found the contents of the letter.

Spoiler:

To Takaki-kun.

How are you?

When we made that date, we never foresaw how snowy it would be today, did we? It looks like the train is late. That’s why I’ve decided to write this while I’m waiting for you.

There is a stove in front of me so it’s warm here. As always, I keep some writing paper in my bag so that I can write my letters at any time. I’m thinking of handing this to you later. So don’t arrive too early or I will be very much troubled. Please don’t hurry, take your time coming here.

It’s been a long time since we last met. It’s been eleven months. That’s why I’m actually feeling a little nervous just now. What will we do if we don’t recognise each other when we meet? But this place is so small compared to Tokyo so I don’t think that could possibly happen. But no matter how much I try to imagine what you look like in school uniform or soccer clothes, you seem like a stranger to me.

Hmmm, what else should I write? Oh, I know. I will start by giving my thanks. I will write down the feelings I had for you that I couldn’t convey properly. When I transferred to Tokyo in primary four I was really glad you were there. I was happy we became friends. If you weren’t there, school would have been much harder for me.

That’s why I really didn’t want to transfer to another school and part with you. I wanted to attend the same junior high school with you and grow up together. It was always what I had wished for. I’ve gotten used to my school now (so please don’t worry too much about me) but everyday, I would think to myself many times, “How much better would it be if Takaki-kun was here?”

I’m very sad that you will soon be moving to a much distant place. Even though we’re separated in between Tokyo and Tochigi, I have always thought to myself that, “Takaki-kun is within my reach.” I could always have taken the train right away to go see you. But this time, going to the other side of Kyushu is a bit too far for me.

From now on, I will have to learn how to live on well by myself, even though I’m not confident that I can. But I have to. Both you and I have to.

There’s another thing that I must tell you. I’m writing this down in this letter just in case I can’t say it out to you.

I love you. I can’t remember when I fell in love with you but very naturally, I had fallen in love with you before I knew it. The first time I met you, you were a strong and kind boy. You always protected me.

Takaki-kun, I’m sure you will be all right. No matter what happens, I know you will grow up to be a fine kind adult. No matter how far you go, I will always love you.

Sorry for straying from the topic. But to all Hayate no Gotoku manga readers, Hayate was finally reunited with Athena after 10 years of separation. Their love story was also pretty powerful IMO.
To those people who are still bitter from the ending (5cm per second of course), Hayate no Gotoku might offer some degree of consolation to your hearts.

Plus, does anybody knows anything about Shinkai's next project?

He's back in Japan, from London, trying to mend fences with his cat. He feels the cat has betrayed him. So cat is at Shinkai's parents, Shinkai is nearby. Also, Shinkai is working on a Mac Air laptop all of the time and he thinks that he is as productive with it as he was with his regular computer, so hopefully good things are to follow.

Talk about heavy. Whoa. Totally invoked most of my emotions - it was written wonderfully and the production was superb. The visuals were breathtaking and the characters were real. My only qualm, which I think most people have, was that isn't wasn't happy. Although Akari was able to move on (its always the females that move on, right? lol) Tohno could not. And because he didn't all the happiness he could have had was lost. Although he knew this, he still held on the whole time too. And when we saw that Akari was engaged my stomach dropped a little. I knew something like that was going to happen, but it was painful none the less.

I wish the story would have ended with them starting college together and going out, but it wasn't the point of the story, so yeah.

all of Shinkai's stuff isn't "happy." the argument could be made that Place Promised was the happiest out of the three, but the message I think Shinkai wants to get out is hope, which =/= happiness. i would detail it more, but ya, school starts tomorrow. i kinda wanna go back and watch it now.

all of Shinkai's stuff isn't "happy." the argument could be made that Place Promised was the happiest out of the three, but the message I think Shinkai wants to get out is hope, which =/= happiness. i would detail it more, but ya, school starts tomorrow. i kinda wanna go back and watch it now.

I haven't watched 'Place Promised' yet, its on my list. And I get the theme and all, but I think I would have liked it more if it was.. well.. happier. Maybe I'm just a sap. lol.

That's kind of the beauty of 5 Centimeters--the ending leaves you content in that every thing is resolved and Takaki has finally moved on, but at the same time you can't help but feel a little sadness that he didn't get his love and it leaves you wanting more--to see that future where he IS in love and happy. It's essentially the exact same thing Takaki is feeling with a completely different cause.

It's ending perfectly reflects your emotions with the protagonists and I can't really come up with many works in any field that have left me that way.

That's kind of the beauty of 5 Centimeters--the ending leaves you content in that every thing is resolved and Takaki has finally moved on, but at the same time you can't help but feel a little sadness that he didn't get his love and it leaves you wanting more--to see that future where he IS in love and happy. It's essentially the exact same thing Takaki is feeling with a completely different cause.

It's ending perfectly reflects your emotions with the protagonists and I can't really come up with many works in any field that have left me that way.

That is really true. Its a solid story. I'm still bummed that it took the guy SO LONG to get over it. Especially since he had at least two other greats girls near him, but I can understand how a beautiful girl will leave a strong impression on your when you're 13 and all.

Another gauge of the greatness here is how you really went through all of your emotions as you watched it. You really felt for the characters and their circumstances.

Spoiler for Episode 3:

And my heart broke for the guy when we found out the girl he has longed for was engaged. Talk about a killer.

All of Shinkai's works are filled with a deep and kind of gentle melancholy. You feel like you're seeing the world through his eyes - he obviously sees incredibly beauty in nature and especially in the everyday creations of men, but also ultimately feels alone (this is a man who is currently not working because he feels his cat has betrayed him). I suppose "Place Promised" is ultimately the most hopeful of his works, but I would agree that hope is a better word for it than happiness.

Spoiler for 5CM Ending:

I kind of disagree about 5CM. I didn't find the ending too reassuring in terms of Takaki - it felt rather bleak to me.

I kind of disagree about 5CM. I didn't find the ending too reassuring in terms of Takaki - it felt rather bleak to me.

Spoiler for Ending:

I can see that, but he did quit his job after realizing what he had been doing. So we can only hope he got back on his feet and everything. He could easily go downhill from there though. I still feel bad for the guy.

I've always thought of 5cm as a Buddhist religious film. For one thing, many of the images are like Zen haiku, giving a feeling of the immediate presence of the world. For another, the film conveys the basic Buddhist idea that life is unsatisfactory, a realm of inevitable suffering.

so i felt like watching this again. so good. so very good. i'm only 10 minutes in currently, but i can already feel the emotions starting to come out.

also, i pretty much realized that Takaki screwed himself when he lost his letter. if that hadn't happened, EVERYTHING would have turned out differently. (or at least that's the lie i told myself the first time i watched it..)

and also, the ending song finally makes more sense now. now that i've actually sat and read the lyrics.. haha. should have done that a long time ago.